Tedford to Ayoob: Let It Rip

Chris Avery

10/18/2005

In his press conference Tuesday, coach Tedford first said that that quarterback
Joe Ayoob still needs to gain confidence in his throwing ability, but then
amended that to say that Joe might be trying to do too much &#8211; trying
too hard to be perfect &#8211; while what he really needed to do was to
just throw the ball.

"He's making good decisions," emphasized Tedford, "he's
throwing the ball to the right place, he rarely throws into coverage, and his
overall interception stats are not that bad.

"But what's lacking is that he's not throwing the ball with
authority. He needs to play unconsciously, to make his decisions with confidence
and let it rip".

According to Tedford, throwing with authority is as much a mental thing as
a physical thing. Referring to the OSU game, Tedford said that Joe was at
times doing well, then at others he would be pressing,
trying too hard to make a play.

"He's seeing the field well, and he really hasn't turned
the ball over that much, " said Tedford. "On one of the two interceptions
(against OSU) he made a poor decision by trying to throw when he was being
hit. In the other, the wide receiver made a poor decision moving to where he
was – and
Joe made a mistake in trying to complete the pass to him.

"But for the most part he's doing a good job of going to the right
guy, and that's very encouraging.

"I think he trusts where he is going with the ball, it may just be that he's
pressing too hard, trying to be perfect, trying to make a play, when what he
really needs to do is to cut it loose, to make the read, then let it rip.

"Every game is a learning opportunity, another chance to adjust to a
different game plan, to a difference defense. Joe's been doing a really
really nice of handling the offense and managing the huddle.

"I heard about some people at Memorial Stadium being pretty nasty to
Joe as he went off the field through the north tunnel. That's something
that he just has to learn to take, it just goes with the position; he has to
learn to handle it the right way and have confidence in himself."

Ayoob has been named a co-captain of the team. Tedford said this was done
to show Joe that the coaches and team support him. "He's our quarterback
and we're with him."

"Joe took the game the other day very hard, probably for a lot of reasons,
maybe some of it was what people were yelling at him. He just needs to know
we're behind him 100%, that everyone has days like
that from time to time. We know he's capable of bouncing back."

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\"He's making good decisions,\" emphasized Tedford, \"he's throwing the ball to the right place, he rarely throws into coverage, and his overall interception stats are not that bad.

\"But what's lacking is that he's not throwing the ball with authority. He needs to play unconsciously, to make his decisions with confidence and let it rip\".

According to Tedford, throwing with authority is as much a mental thing as a physical thing. Referring to the OSU game, Tedford said that Joe was at times doing well, then at others he would be pressing, trying too hard to make a play.

\"He's seeing the field well, and he really hasn't turned the ball over that much, \" said Tedford. \"On one of the two interceptions (against OSU) he made a poor decision by trying to throw when he was being hit. In the other, the wide receiver made a poor decision moving to where he was – and Joe made a mistake in trying to complete the pass to him.

\"But for the most part he's doing a good job of going to the right guy, and that's very encouraging.

\"I think he trusts where he is going with the ball, it may just be that he's pressing too hard, trying to be perfect, trying to make a play, when what he really needs to do is to cut it loose, to make the read, then let it rip.

\"Every game is a learning opportunity, another chance to adjust to a different game plan, to a difference defense. Joe's been doing a really really nice of handling the offense and managing the huddle.

\"I heard about some people at Memorial Stadium being pretty nasty to Joe as he went off the field through the north tunnel. That's something that he just has to learn to take, it just goes with the position; he has to learn to handle it the right way and have confidence in himself.\"

Ayoob has been named a co-captain of the team. Tedford said this was done to show Joe that the coaches and team support him. \"He's our quarterback and we're with him.\"

\"Joe took the game the other day very hard, probably for a lot of reasons, maybe some of it was what people were yelling at him. He just needs to know we're behind him 100%, that everyone has days like that from time to time. We know he's capable of bouncing back.\"

If you haven't done so already, subscribe to The Bear Insider so you can participate in this active online Cal community and get access to the members-only content from the nation-wide Scout.com network.

Bear Insider staff writers visit the Insider discussion board regularly, and are available to discuss questions you may have about this article and Cal Athletics.